First Drive

What is it?

The new Mercedes C 63 AMG estate, which brings the thunderous 6.2-litre V8 to Mercedes’ executive load-lugger. That means 451bhp and 443lb ft of torque propelling a car weighing just 65kg more than its saloon counterpart, resulting in a penalty of just 0.1sec in the sprint to 60mph and half an mpg in extra fuel consumption.

What’s it like?

On the road, it’s near-identical to the C 63 saloon. So although you’ll have to put up with a lumpy low-speed ride, the pay-off is magnificent body control, incisive steering, relentless acceleration and a soundtrack that will give you goose bumps.

Best of all, though, is the 7-speed automatic transmission. This has a full manual paddle-shift mode that feels almost as slick as a twin-clutch set up. It even allows you to bounce off the rev limiter without changing up for you.

So should I buy one?

An extra £1250 over the saloon sounds expensive, but with the recent demise of the RS4 Avant, and no M3 estate, if you want a small V8 estate the Mercedes C 63 is your only option. Good thing it’s a cracking car, then.

Join the debate

Just a thought that popped into my head - given that this engine produces a fair bit more power in other applications, how easy or otherwise would it be to tweak a C63 to even sillier amounts of grunt?

I love this car. It looks great both inside and out and has a quality and feel about it that no competitor in this class can match. Much to my surprise, it only emits 235 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. Not bad for a 6.2 litre engine. One passed me on the M4 today - glorious sound.

[quote brakedust]Much to my surprise, it only emits 235 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. Not bad for a 6.2 litre engine[/quote]

To Mercedes-Benz's surprise too. Perhaps Autocar have reinvented the internal combustion engine along the lines of more energy out than in. Then again, maybe they've just fornicated up again with their 'work'. Have a guess which it is? Autocar versus Daimler AG?